Monument record MCC890 - Roman building (CAT Building 112), Insula 34 Culver Street, Colchester

Summary

Roman building (CAT Building 112) was discovered during excavations at Culver Street between 1981-2 and 1984-5.

Location

Grid reference TL 99493 25089 (point)
Map sheet TL92NE
1848 Parish THE HOLY TRINITY
Non Parish Area COLCHESTER, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Map

Type and Period (5)

Full Description

During excavations at Culver Street between 1981-2 and 1984-5 (ECC337), a Roman building (CAT Building 112) was examined. The building was situated in the north-east corner of Insula 34, west of the former via principalis (MCC760) and south of an east-west road (MCC812).

The building consisted of a block of six rooms which were relatively well preserved although the wall foundations had largely been robbed. Two stretches survived to ground level though and were of substantial stone-and-mortar construction, usually on a thin base of gravel.
An examination of the buildings internal plan revealed that it was a development from the previous building on the site (MCC800) and that it went through a number of structural phases itself. The nature of occupation on the site during the last half of the third century was hard to interpret although there appears to have been a building of some sort on the site of two of the rooms as indicated by floors, occupation and a tile hearth.
Despite being of relatively modest size and construction the earlier building (s) provided more fragments of window glass than any other from the excavation and incorporated some unusual decorative wall plaster. The roof was tiled.
Internal features included floors of sandy clay, partition walls, many hearths and ovens, numerous pits (one of which was wattle lined), stake holes, gullies and a baby burial (MCC1104). Two rooms contained occupation deposits with a high concentration of charcoal and ash and fragments of crucibles used for melting copper alloy were found in a number of rooms suggesting that metal working activity was taking place on the site.
The area to the west of the building (s) probably continued from the previous building (MCC800) as an open yard which was partly re-metalled with gravel. This gravel was sealed by a thick accumulation of dump which was associated with a hearth, oven, drainage gully, pits and stake holes. Early in the second century the north-west corner of this area contained the remains of a stoke hole and flue from an oven or furnace which was associated with further metal working debris. Later on the area was gravelled over twice and an oven was built in the western part of the yard.
To the south of the yard, the east-west street/ally (MCC762) which had existed between the two earlier buildings on the site (MCC800 and MCC811) was completely built over its site being shared by this building and one to the south (MCC824). A narrow gap for a drain was left between the two buildings and later on a baby was buried in it (MCC1107)<1>

Sources/Archives (1)

  • <1> Monograph: Crummy, Philip. 1992. CAR 6: Excavations at Culver Street, the Gilberd School, and other sites in Colchester 1971-85. 6. p.76.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Record last edited

Nov 30 2016 1:59PM

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